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Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Is Your Cat Drinking Enough Fresh Water? #PetHydrationMonth

Did you know that cats need one-ounce of water per pound of body weight daily? Did you know 80% of your pet’s body is made of water? July is Pet Hydration Month and we want to share some information about proper hydration and the use of a pet fountain.

July is Pet Hydration Month and was started by PetSafe® Brand to raise the awareness to pet parents about the importance of keeping pets appropriately hydrated. As we stated earlier, 80% of your cat's body is made of water compared to 60% in humans. It's important for cats (and dogs) to drink a minimum of one-ounce of water per pound of their body weight per day. If your cat is active or has a health condition, this amount may increase.

Proper hydration can help prevent urinary tract infections (UTIs) and urinary disease, aid with energy levels and temperature regulation, and speed recovery time from sickness of surgery. If cats don't receive the proper amount of water, they can become dehydrated. Dehydration occurs when fluid levels drop to less than normal due to reduced water intake or increased fluid loss (illness, increased activity, lack of availability of fresh water, or dirty bowls). To help prevent dehydration, you should provide clean water at all times and change it frequently to ensure freshness. It's important to wash bowls every day to prevent bacteria from forming.

If you suspect your cat may be dehydrated, you should get her to the veterinarian immediately The vet needs to monitor her and possibly administer IV fluids. Common symptoms of dehydration include:

vomiting and/or diarrhea

lack of energy

excessive and ongoing panting

loss of appetite

sunken, dry eyes

dry and stick gums

loss of skin elasticity

Graphic provided by PetSafe® Brand

One way we've found to ensure we have clean and fresh water is to use a pet fountain. We love the Drinkwell® fountains from PetSafe® Brands and have a couple of varieties located in our home. PetSafe Brand pet fountains encourage pets to drink more water and offer a stylish alternative to traditional pet bowls. Mom Paula loves the calming effect of the running water in the fountains. Pet fountains help keep us healthy and hydrated by providing fresh, filtered, circulating water. We know several of our cat blogging friends who love to drink running water from the faucet at the sink and an appropriate pet fountain is the next step in satisfying your cat. The hy-drate® Filtration
systems add filtered water to your pet's water bowl. Healthy Pet Water Station™
systems are perfect for owners who don't want to refill the water bowl every
day.

We received the PetSafe® Drinkwell® Stainless 360 Multi-Pet Fountainto review during Pet Hydration Month. The Drinkwell 360™ fountain has the option of multiple streams (interchangeable spout rings) with adjustable flow settings. It's made of stainless steel and it circular to allow pets to drink from any angle and is perfect for multiple pet households. This fountain is a little larger than some of the other fountains, but we really like it. The 360 fountain has two filters: a carbon filter (The filter contains granulated carbon for extended filtration and the duo density polyester pad captures debris) and a foam pre-filter (trap any large debris and hair in the water, before they reach the pump, providing cleaner water to your pet. The foam filters help keep the pump cleaner in between cleanings and maintain the fountain's flow rate). Filters should be changed about every two weeks, depending on the number of pets in the household and its use.

Graphic courtesy PetSafe® Brands

Truffle has always enjoyed drinking from a stream of water. Brulee prefers drinking from the bowl, but she is leaning more towards a drinking from a stream with the Drinkwell 360 fountain. Mom Paula likes the fact the fountain in stainless steel and less likely to collect bacteria like plastic fountains. The only problem we had was our house has hard water and we had problems cleaning the hard water stains. A representative from PetSafe recommended using one of those cleaning "erasers" and now our fountain stays shiny and clean.

Giveaway

We're excited
to announce that one of our readers
has the opportunity to win a PetSafe® Brand
Drinkwell® Stainless 360 Multi-Pet Fountainof her own. No purchase necessary. The giveaway is open to
residents of the United States 18+ years, except where prohibited by law. The
giveaway will run from July 18-25, 2017 at 11:59pm ET. One winner will be
randomly selected by Rafflecopter (powered by Random.org) and notified via
email. Winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize; failure to do so will
result in forfeiture of the prize and a new winner will be randomly chosen. To
qualify for the giveaway, a comment must
be left on our blog post. Other
entry options are available after a comment is left. Please check your email and be sure to
add sweetpurrfections@sc.rr.com to your address book! Good luck!

I had no idea cats need so much water. I know they get dehydrated easily – one of the reasons Bear and Ellie get wet food treats. We got a fountain to try too – but we haven’t gotten to it yet. I love that these are stainless steel ... Bear gets acne and so plastic bowls are a no-no for him.

We have a small fountain, but really could use a bigger, better one. I have three Treeing Walker Coonhounds and three cats (all rescues). They currently share water so I have to constantly change the water so the cats don't have to drink the dog slobber (my dogs are very messy drinkers - fortunately they do most of their drinking from two large water bowls I keep on the deck just outside the door). My favorite style - and dream fountain - is the PetSafe Pagoda fountain (in blue). It would be perfect in my main bathroom, since it would add to the "spa" feeling I'm going for in that room. The cats also have one of their litter boxes in that bathroom, so it would be good to have a fountain, as long as I don't have it too close to the litter box. (Oh, and there is no place to enter my email address on the second entry, so I'll give it to you here - urdchan@gmail.com)

We've had a fountain for our cats for about a year and half now, and they love it! Our dog likes it too, and I've been thinking about getting a second fountain for downstairs. This would be perfect. Thanks for the great information! :)

This is a great idea. One of my cats mostly drinks from a dripping faucet which we are about to get fixed--she just likes that better than a bowl which she hardly touches, so this could be the perfect thing for her. Hope I win!

I love those fountains and wish I had place in my apt for one, but hydration is number one on my list in the summer as my biggest fear is Layla becoming dehydrated so I make sure whenever we are out and about I have a bottle with me plus when in the park there is a bowl there for her all the time and of course we sit in the shade, thanks for reminding everyone about this.

From what I read cats do not have natural inclination to drinking as wild cats apparently get their "water" from their fresh prey? That's all I know about that. Cookie seems to mostly drink what she needs; when I feel I should convince her to drink more I offer raw goats milk.

I hadn't heard about Pet Hydration Month and will need to check it out. The group I volunteer has a blog. I post pet calendar date info to it.

We bought a fountain for our first cat after she had an urinary infection. Both she and our dog enjoyed drinking from the fountain. When she died, we put the fountain in storage and have yet to take it out. However, we do try to be vigilant about water intake. We add water and/or broth to pet meals. Maybe when we move into our new place, we'll try a fountain again. Our home has grown to have three cats and our dog.

We have this fountain and love it. Best fountain ever, especially as it is quiet. We'd love to have a second one for the second floor. XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, angel Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth, Calista Jo and Cooper Murphy

I don't own a cat, but I think pet fountains are very cool, especially since they filter the water. I don't think my dogs really drink enough water since when my mom owned them, she actually restricted their water so they wouldn't pee so much!

You two are so cute drinking from your fountain! We have the Sedona pet fountain from PetSafe and my kitties love it. This one looks really nice too. I'm sure that Manna and Dexter wouldn't mind having a fountain like yours. :) -Purrs from your friends at www.PlayfulKitty.net

I have a couple of fountains, one stainless. I love those. This is my favorite because with multiple pet cats they need to be able to approach it from all sides. I mean little sis can be a B--- and bite her brother's ear if he gets in her way of eating or drinking!Fountains are good because we have had a bout with UTI's